3D Printed Comets Taken from Philae Images

Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) have constructed a 3D model of icy comet “67p” using photographs taken in space by robot “Philae” – and 80 of them will be printed by the Form 1 3D printer for the landing of “Philae” on the icy comet after a 10-year journey and 3.7 billion miles (6 billion km) in orbit.

About 3,000 guests will witness the eagerly-anticipated event, named the Rosetta Mission, at the Cité des Sciences (Paris Science Museum) on Nov 12 at 3.30pm CET (9.30am ET). Follow the news here.

Using images from the OSIRIS and NAVCA cameras, the 3D model was optimized and prepared for printing on Dassault Systems’ CATIA software, before being exported to PreForm, Formlabs’ 3D printing software. It took 6 hours to print 6 comets (2 inches long) at 100 microns (Formlabs’ lowest resolution) in one print.